A number of plugs, seals and other devices are known for covering or closing holes in bodily tissues. In the example of openings through the walls of blood vessels, such as those made for insertion of catheters or other diagnostic or treatment purposes, such devices generally extend across or fill up an opening. Devices such as those disclosed in application Ser. No. 13/111,338, filed on May 19, 2011 and application Ser. No. 13/303,707, filed on Nov. 23, 2011 (both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties) have proven quite effective in closing arteriotomy openings.
However, many currently available closures are designed for relatively small openings, e.g. about 6-10 French. A generally circular anchor or seal can be placed within the vessel and pulled against the inside of the vessel wall. Such devices may be less successful at closing larger openings, e.g. greater than 10 French in size, because of the size and configuration of the opening compared to that of the closure. One problem noted is that closures can evert and be pulled through a large opening when the closure is pulled against a vessel wall. If that happens, an emergency situation may arise, and a different closure will be needed to close the opening. For larger openings, larger domes sealing elements may be used, but as the sealing elements get larger the curvature that needs to be achieved by the closure when they are deployed will be greater. The closure may be less inclined to hug the vessel wall toward its edge, and if not, may become an obstruction to blood flow within the vessel and/or create leakage. Closures designed for larger openings, and that effectively spread force applied to the closure and allow it to hug the vessel wall more closely, are needed.